Cancel Culture: The Voter Intimidation Tactic of Pennsylvania Governor’s Race

News Analysis

Boycotts, threats of rioting, and vile reputation-smearing rhetoric mark a campaign season in Pennsylvania where these intimidation tactics are being used by the left in the governor’s race, with the help of legacy media.

In the gubernatorial campaign between Republican state senator Doug Mastriano and attorney general and Democratic candidate Josh Shapiro, media fans the flames of guerilla tactics with supporters as collateral damage.

For example, in June, local media outlet Billy Penn reported that members of the Martin family, which founded Martin’s Potato Rolls, donated to Mastriano’s campaign.

New York Times columnist Kenji López-Alt vowed on Instagram to stop eating the rolls and patronizing businesses using them because Mastriano attended the Jan. 6 rally in Washington and opposes abortion.

Minnesota-based mathematician Joe Rosenthal called Mastriano a far-right, anti-Semite, opposed to mask mandates and critical race theory.

“Unless Martin’s takes sufficient action to remedy this situation, I will never support them or their products on any of my platforms ever again,” Rosenthal posted.

Media Bakes Up Bun Boycott

With two Instagram posts from people who don’t live in Pennsylvania, the national media had a boycott story. “Martin’s potato rolls face boycott over owner’s politics,” wrote the Washington Post. “Bay area chefs ditching burger buns over right-wing politics,” San Francisco Chronicle wrote. “Martin’s Famous Potato Rolls family wants Trump stooge as Pennsylvania governor,” MSNBC reported. Many more reports appeared around the nation in large and small news outlets, specialty, and trade outlets.

The company provided a statement.

“Like the rest of the country, Martin’s employees, business partners, and customers hold to a diverse range of personal opinions, beliefs, and values. Although the stockholders who own the company are members of the same family, they also hold a wide range of views. For these reasons, the company, as a matter of

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